Technology and mechanization are constantly
improving supply chain management and an increasing number of bulk containers go
directly from the quay or container station to the roasting plant. Here they are
discharged, automatically and by a single person (sometimes the driver of the
vehicle).
At the roasting plant or silo storage facility the
container truck is backed onto a reception pit where the seals are checked and
cut. The doors are opened, the liner is cut and the container is then gradually
angled upwards by the lorry's tilt-chassis, causing the coffee to pour out. The
tilting mechanism is plugged into the computerized reception mechanism, which
then controls the rate of tilt and hence the rate of pour. Once the discharge is
complete the liner is removed and put away for dispatch to a recycling plant.
This is a far cry from when bags had to be unloaded, cut open and tipped out
manually.